Post classical vocab

Byzantine Empire

Eastern portion of the Roman Empire which survived beyond the collapse of the Roman Empire with its capital at Constantinople; retained Mediterranean culture, particularly Greek; eventually taken over by the Ottomans (500ce to 1453ce)

Justinian I

6th century Byzantine emperor: he failed to reconquer the western portions of the empire; but he was known for rebuilding Constantinople and codifying Roman law into the Justinian code.

Crusades

Armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Christians determined to reconquer Jerusalem from Muslim rule. Brought an end to western Europe's centuries of intellectual and cultural isolation.

Vikings

A group of seafarers from Scandinavia that colonized and raided parts of Europe from about 793 to 1066.

Hagia Sophia

Great domed Eastern Orthodox Christian church constructed during the reign of Justinian in Constantinople.

Great Schism

The split between the Roman Catholic church in the west and the Eastern Orthodox church based in Constantinople. The split centered a role of the Pope in the decision-making process of the church, the language of the bible, and whether priests should be celibate.

Eastern Orthodox Church

Christian church that was created in 1053 after the schism or split from the western Roman Catholic church; it heavily influenced the Byzantine Empire as well as Russia.

Kievan Rus

State that emerged around the city of Kiev in the 9th century; a culturally diverse region that included Vikings as well as Finnic and Baltic peoples.

Boyars

Russian landholding aristocrats; possessed less political power than their western European counterparts.

Czar (Tsar)

Term used for the emperors of Russia; literally means Caesar.

Constantinople

Capital of the Byzantine Empire; constructed on the site of Byzantium, today's Istanbul in modern day Turkey.

Abbasid

Dynasty that overthrew the Umayyad to rule the Muslim caliphate from 750 to 1258; for 150 years they maintained the unity of the caliphate and Islamic civilization and culture flourished. Moved the capital city to Baghdad.

Baghdad

Capital city of the Abbasid dynasty located in Iraq; it was the second largest city next to Constantinople, and its location on key trade routes gave the caliphs access to trade goods, gold, and information about other empires.

Seljuk Turks

Nomadic Turks from Asia who conquered Baghdad in 1055 and allowed the caliph to remain only as a religious leader. Most were Sunni Muslims.

Sultan

In Arabic it means "Victorious", term designated to Muslim rulers especially in the West.

Mamluks

Turkic military slaves who formed part of the army of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9-10th centuries; they founded their own state in Egypt and Syria from the 13th to early 16th centuries.

Muhammad

The prophet of Islam, he received revelations from Allah (God) in 610ce and after. Established the Quran and the Five Pillars of Islam.

Bedouins

Nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian Peninsula; culture based on camel and goat nomadism; early converts to Islam. They contributed to the safety of the trade routes.

Allah

God of Islam and means god in Arabic

Mecca

City located in the mountainous regions along the Red Sea in the Arabian peninsula; founded by the Umayyad clan, it is the site of the Ka'ba, the original home of Muhammad, and the location of the chief religious pilgrimage point in Islam.

Quran (Koran)

The sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina.

Medina

City in western Saudi Arabia to where Muhammad and his followers emigrated in 622 to escape persecution in Mecca.

Ka'ba

The most revered religious shrine in Pre-Islamic Arabia; located in Mecca; focus of obligatory annual truce among Bedouin tribes; later incorporated as an important shrine in Islam.

Five Pillars

The obligatory religious duties of all Muslims; confession of faith, prayer, fasting during Ramadan, zakat (tax), and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)

Jihad

The obligation of Muslims to struggle or exert themselves "in the way of God"

Ramadan

A holy month in the calendar of Islam. During this time Muslims fast between dawn and sunset.

Shariah

Islamic law, dealing with all matters both secular and religious

Minarets

Towers attached to a Muslim mosque, having one or more projecting balconies from which a crier calls Muslims to prayer.

Abu Bakr

Companion of the 1st Muslim leader after Muhammad. He is regarded by Sunni's as the 1st caliph and rightful successor. The Shia regard him as a traitor to Muhammad. Known as the best interpreter of dreams following Muhammad's death.

Caliph

A supreme political and religious leader in a Muslim government or the successor to Muhammad on earth.

Sunni

Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries. Supported the Umayyads.

Shia

The branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad.

Dar al-Islam

Meaning "Everywhere Islam is"; Religious conceptualization of the world as belonging either to Muslim or non-Muslim territory, exists within Islam.

Umayyad Dynasty

First hereditary dynasty of Muslim caliphs. From their capital at Damascus, the Umayyads ruled one of the largest empires in history that extended from Spain to India. They were overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate.

Sufism

An Islamic mystical tradition that desired a personal union with God; divine love through intuition rather than through rational deduction and study or the Shariah. Dedicated themselves to fasting, prayer, meditation on the Quran, and the avoidance of sin.

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan Muslim scholar; the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain as well as western Sudan.

Griots

Professional oral historians who served as keepers of traditions and advisors to kings within the Mali Empire.

Indian Ocean Trade Network

The world's largest sea-based system of communication and trace before 1500.

Trans-Saharan Trade

Trade caravan routes across the Sahara Desert that connected trading centers in West Africa, North Africa, and East Africa. The earliest evidence of trade along these routes involved the people of the Sahel orchestrating the exchange of salt from mines in the Sahara for gold from the Niger valley region.

Kumbai Saleh

Ghana's capital city, where the king ruled a centralized government aided by nobles and an army equipped with iron weapons.

Timbuktu

Port city of Mali; located just off the flood plain on the great bend of the Niger River; contained a library as well as a university.

Swahili city-states

East African city-states that emerged in the 8th century from a blending of Bantu, Islamic, and other Indian Ocean trade elements.

Goa

Fortified Portuguese trade city located on the Western Indian coast. Accumulated wealth due to access to the Asian sea trade network and developed into a center of Islamic life in the region.

Ghana

West African kingdom between the Sahara and coastal rain forests. The rulers sold gold and ivory to Muslim traders in exchange for salt, copper, cloth and tools.

Mali

The most powerful trading society in West Africa. It consisted of the great cities of Timbuktu and Gao, which were centers of Islamic life and learning.

Sundiata

The "Lion Prince"; a member of the Keita clan, he created a unified state that became the Mali Empire.

Mansa Musa

Sundiata's grand-nephew, ruler of the Mali empire in west Africa from 1312 to 1337. He controlled territories rich in gold and copper (richest man in the history of the world), however he is better known for his religious leadership (Islam) than political or economic policy.

Songhay (Songhai)

Successor state to the Mali Empire; formed an independent kingdom under the Berber dynasty capital at Gao.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful state in the African interior that emerged from the growing trade in gold to the East African coast.

Flying money

Started during the Tang dynasty in China; credit instrument that provided credit vouchers to merchants to be redeemed at the end of a voyage. It reduced the danger of robbery. Enabled merchants to deposit goods or money at one location and draw the equivalent in money or merchandise in China.

Magnetic compass

Invented during the Chinese Han dynasty, it is a navigation instrument used for determining direction; allowed ships to travel without staying close to shore.

Junk

An exceptionally large flat-bottom sailing ship produced during the Tang and Song Dynasties; specially designed for long-distance commercial travel.

Wood-block printing

A form of printing in which an entire page is carved into a block of wood and ink is pressed onto it. It is then pressed onto a page, creating an image.

Champa rice

Quick maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season.

Sinification

The spreading of Chinese culture.

Scholar gentry

The educated upper classes in China.

Daimyo

Prominent Japanese families who provided allegiance to the local Shogun in exchange for protection.

Sui Dynasty

The short dynasty between the Han and the Tang dynasty; they built the Grand Canal, strengthen the government, and introduced Buddhism to China.

Grand Canal

The 1,100-mile waterway linking the Yellow (Huang He) and the Yangzi Rivers. Its construction began during the Han period and was completed during the Sui dynasty.

Tang Dynasty

After the Sui dynasty, it maintained the extensive communications network based on roads, and horses. They used the equal-field system, relied heavily on a bureaucracy based on merit.

Tributary system

A network of loose international relations focused on China which facilitated trade and foreign relations by acknowledging China's predominant role in East Asia. It involved multiple relationships of trade, military, diplomacy, and ritual.

Song Dynasty

This Chinese dynasty replaced the Tang; by 1000ce, one million people were living under there control. Practiced foot-binding, had the magnetic compass, a navy, and traded with India and Persia. They were the first to have paper money, explosive gun powder. The also promoted the scholar gentry over the military and aristocracy.

Yuan Dynasty

Chinese dynasty from 1279-1368 established by Kublai Khan (Mongol leader). During this dynasty, the Silk Road became safer for travelers because it was monitored by patrols (Pax Mongolica).

Ming Dynasty

Succeeded the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China in 1369 and lasted until 1644. Initially participated in huge trade expeditions to southern Asia and beyond (Zheng He), but later concentrated efforts on internal development within China.

Shogun

A hereditary military dictator of Japan.

Samurai

A Japanese warrior who was a member of the feudal military aristocracy.

Kowtow

A former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission.

Foot binding

Practice in Chinese society during the Song dynasty to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; made it easier to confine women to the household.

Neo-Confucianism

Revived the ancient Confucian teachings during the Song era of China. It had a great impact on the dynasties that followed; their emphasis focused on tradition and hostility to foreign systems that made Chinese rulers and bureaucrats less receptive to outside ideas and influence.

Fujiwara clan

Dynastic family that, by shrewd intermarriage and diplomacy, dominated the Japanese imperial government from the 9th to the 12th century.

Heian

Period in Japan from 794 - 1100; the capital was moved to Heian; 300 years of developing a new culture, growing large estates, and moving away from Chinese culture.

The Tale of Genji

Japanese story of Prince Genji and his lovers; written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu at the end of the 11th century; it is considered the world's first novel.

Bushido

Traditional code of the Japanese samurai which stressed courage, loyalty, self-discipline, and simple living.

Delhi Sultanate

The kingdom established by Muhammad's successors to spread Islam in India.

Jizya

Tax paid by Christians and Jews who lived in Muslim communities to allow them to continue to practice their own religion.

Bhakti Movement

A cult of love and devotion that ultimately sought to erase the distinction between Hinduism and Islam; emerged in southern India.

Calicut

A city of southwest India on the Malabar Coast southwest of Bangalore. It was the site of Vasco da Gama's first landfall in India (1498) and was later occupied by the Portuguese, British, French, and Danish trading colonies,

Spice Islands

A small group of islands to the north-east of Indonesia. They are known as the Spice Islands because, despite their relatively small size, they were the largest producers of mace, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper in the world.

Monsoon winds

Alternating wind currents that blew eastward across the Indian Ocean in the summer and westward during the winter.

Lateen sail

Triangle-shaped sails whose design allowed ships to sail against the wind. These sails were perfected by Arab traders.

Charlemagne

King/Emperor of the Franks; established the Carolingian Empire through military conquests that encompassed all of Gaul, and party of Italy and Germany.

Empress Wu

The only female emperor in the history of China. Reigned during the Tang Dynasty and was one of the most effective and controversial monarchs in Chinese history.

William the Conqueror

Invaded England from Normandy in 1066; established tight feudal system and centralized monarchy in England.

Holy Roman Empire

A political entity in Europe that began with the papal coronation of Otto I as the first emperor in 962 and lasted until 1806 when it was dissolved by Napoleon.

Magyars

Nomadic Muslim peoples who invaded the Carolingian empire, converted to Christianity, and established Hungary.

Magna Carta

Greater Charter issued by King John of England in 1215; confirmed feudal rights against monarchial claims; represented principle of mutual limits and obligations between rulers and feudal aristocracy.

Hundred Years' War

Conflict between England and France (1337-1453)

Reconquista

The effort by Christian leaders to drive the Muslims (Moors) out of Spain, lasting from the 1100s until 1492.

Medieval Europe

Also known as the Middle or Dark Ages; began with the collapse of the western Roman empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.

Feudalism

Relationships among the military elite during the Middle Ages; greater lords provided protection to lesser lords in return for military service.

Serfs

Peasant agriculture laborers within the manorial system.

Primogeniture

Legal and customary right that the firstborn child will inherit all of his father's possessions; Excludes all other children.

Code of Chivalry

Rules that knights adopted in the late Middle Ages; requiring them to be brave, loyal and true to their word.

Manorial system

System of economic and political relations between landlords and their peasant laborers during the Middle Ages; involved a hierarchy of reciprocal obligations that exchanged labor for access to land.

Guilds

Associations of workers in the same occupation in a single city; stressed security and mutual control; limited membership, regulated apprenticeship, guaranteed good workmanship, discourage innovations; often established franchise within cities.

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant and traveler; his account of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.

Three field system

One-third of land left unplanted each year to increase fertility.

Black Death

Plague that struck Europe in the 14th century; significantly reduced Europe's population; affected social structure.

Cartography

The making of maps and charts.

Mongols

Nomads from northern Eurasia; after 1206 they established an enormous empire under Genghis Khan, linking western and eastern Eurasia.